The Baihetan Dam (simplified Chinese: 白鹤滩大坝; traditional Chinese: 白鶴灘大壩; pinyin: Báihètān Dàbà) is a large hydroelectric dam on the Jinsha River, an upper stretch of the Yangtze River in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, in the southwest of China. The dam is a 289 m tall double-curvature arch dam with a crest elevation of 827 m, and a width of 72 m at the base and 13 m at the crest.[4] It is considered the last large hydropower project in China to be completed since a series of projects starting with the Three Gorges Dam,[5] the third largest dam in China and the fourth in the world, in terms of dam volume.
Baihetan Dam | |
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Official name | 白鹤滩大坝 |
Coordinates | 27°13′07″N 102°54′22″E |
Construction began | 2017 |
Opening date | July 2022 |
Construction cost | ¥220 billion RMB[1] |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | double-curvature arch dam |
Impounds | Jinsha River |
Height | 289 metres (948 ft)[2] |
Width (crest) | 13 metres (43 ft) |
Width (base) | 72 metres (236 ft) |
Reservoir | |
Total capacity | 17,924,000,000 m3 (14,531,223 acre⋅ft)[3] |
Power Station | |
Turbines | 16 × 1,000 MW |
Installed capacity | 8,000 MW (operational) 8,000 MW (under construction) |
Annual generation | 60.24 TWh[4] |
The facility generates power by utilizing 16 turbines, each with a generating capacity of 1.0 GW, taking the generating capacity to 16,000 MW.[6] In terms of generating capacity, it is the second largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, after the Three Gorges Dam.[7]
Surveying of the dam site was done in 1992.[8] The dam was originally scheduled to be constructed between 2009 and 2018.[9] Actual construction started in 2017.[10] The reservoir started filling in April 2021, with the dam to start partial electricity generation in July of the same year. By July 2022, the dam should be fully operational.[11] Experts have noted the 4-year construction period as being exceptionally fast for a project of its type.[12]
On June 28, 2021, the Baihetan Dam began generating electricity, when the project's first two turbines started operating.[13] The third turbine followed in July and the fourth in November.[14]
The dam and reservoir have particularly affected upstream Qiaojia County, providing thousands of jobs to local residents, while also requiring resettlement of 32 villages totaling 50,178 residents. Coinciding with the dam construction, the road network was also improved.[15][16]
Hydroelectric dams on the Yangtze | |
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